Emergency plan triggered as Vueling flight lands in Tenerife with landing gear fault « Euro Weekly News
Vueling’s second scare in 24 hours as Barcelona jet lands with a gear fault. Credit: Martin Leber / Shutterstock
Passengers on a Vueling flight from Barcelona were on their way into Tenerife North on Tuesday morning, October 27, when the airport’s emergency plan was activated over a problem with the landing gear. Some early reports even claimed the plane had no landing gear at all, so what really happened as it came in?
Emergency plan activated as the jet came in
A Vueling flight from Barcelona was approaching Tenerife North (Los Rodeos) airport on Tuesday when a problem with its landing gear set off the airport’s emergency plan, according to Aena sources. The plane had left Barcelona at around 7.20am and was due to land at 9.55am.
Some reports said the plane had no landing gear at all
Several Spanish headlines claimed the aircraft landed without its landing gear deployed, which would have made the incident an extreme emergency landing. However, local media later reported that the fault was a locked steering system on the landing gear, which hasn’t yet been officially confirmed.
Aena itself only referred to a general problem with the landing gear. It said the airport’s operations weren’t otherwise affected, although one local outlet reported that the airport’s single runway was closed temporarily and has since reopened.
The jet landed safely and nobody was hurt
In the end, the plane touched down without any problems and no injuries were reported among passengers or crew. Vueling described a technical incident of no great importance and said it had chosen a precautionary landing.
For many on board, the issue wasn’t apparent until the plane was already being towed on the tarmac. Several passengers slept through the entire thing, and Pablo Bibiana said they felt no turbulence or problems. Mirella López, who was seated near the cockpit, said she was concerned that the plane stayed in the air longer than expected, but later felt reassured.
A second Vueling scare in 24 hours
The incident came less than a day after a separate Vueling flight from Barcelona landed in Gran Canaria on Monday following a bomb threat on board. The two events are unrelated.
Vueling replaced the aircraft for the return flight to Barcelona as a precaution, moving passengers onto an Airbus A321, and the departure was pushed back from 10.35am to 12.15pm. The airline expects the original plane to return to service on the same day, so anyone due to fly out of Tenerife North should expect regular services to continue, and to check their flight’s status with their airline.
